Documentation

Welcome to ultramap documentation. Learn how to get started and make the most of your AI-powered whiteboarding experience.

Introduction

ultramap is a premium desktop application that combines visual whiteboarding with AI-powered knowledge management. It provides an infinite canvas where you can capture ideas, organize information, and discover connections between your thoughts using semantic search and automatic relationship detection.

Platform Support

ultramap beta is currently available for:

• Windows: NSIS installer
• macOS: DMG installer (ARM64)

Linux version is coming soon.

Getting Started

The ultramap beta is completely free to download and use. Download the Windows or macOS beta from our website.

Installation

Download ultramap for your operating system and follow the installation instructions. All data is stored locally—no cloud accounts required.

First Launch

When you first open ultramap, you'll see an empty canvas with a toolbar on the left side. The canvas uses a dot grid background to help with spatial organization.

Navigation

• Pan: Click and drag with the middle mouse button or use the scroll wheel while holding Shift
• Zoom: Use the scroll wheel or zoom controls in the bottom-right corner
• Reset View: Press Cmd/Ctrl + 0 to fit all content

Creating Your First Note

1. Press S or click the Sticky Note tool in the toolbar
2. Click anywhere on the canvas to place a sticky note
3. Type your content directly into the note
4. Click outside the note or press Escape to finish editing

Content Types

Sticky Notes (S)

Classic sticky notes for quick ideas and reminders. Customizable background color, text color, and font size. Perfect for brainstorming and task tracking.

Text Nodes (T)

Plain text without sticky note styling, ideal for labels and annotations. Great for titles, headers, and clean text displays.

Shapes (R, E)

Rectangle and Circle/Ellipse shapes for diagrams and visual organization. Customizable fill color, border color, and border width.

Frames (Cmd/Ctrl + G)

Container nodes that visually group and organize related content. Select multiple nodes and press Cmd/Ctrl + G to create a frame. Children move with the frame automatically.

Website Cards (W)

Rich preview cards that display website metadata. Press W and enter a URL. Automatically fetches title, description, favicon, and preview image.

YouTube Cards (Y)

Embedded YouTube video players with metadata. Press Y and enter a YouTube URL for inline video playback.

AI Assistant Integration

ultramap's most powerful feature is the ability to connect AI assistants through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Supported Assistants

• Claude Desktop: Anthropic's desktop application
• VS Code: With MCP extension support

Setup

1. Open AI Assistants settings from the View menu or press Cmd/Ctrl + ,
2. Select your AI assistant (e.g., Claude Desktop)
3. Click "Connect [Assistant Name]" to auto-configure
4. Restart your AI assistant to activate the connection

What AI Assistants Can Do

Your AI assistant has full control over your whiteboard and can:

• Create content: Sticky notes, text nodes, shapes, frames, website cards, YouTube cards
• Organize: Auto-arrange nodes in grids, group related content, align and distribute
• Search: Semantic search across all content, find similar notes, discover patterns
• Analyze: Detect clusters, find paths between concepts, explore relationships
• Manage: Update content, change styles, move and resize nodes, create connections

Example Commands

• "Create 5 sticky notes with ideas for the marketing campaign"
• "Arrange all my sticky notes in a 4-column grid"
• "Search for notes about deadlines and show me the top 5 results"
• "Find related clusters of ideas on my board"
• "Group all the marketing-related notes into a frame"

Keyboard Shortcuts

Tools

• V - Select tool
• S - Sticky note
• T - Text node
• R - Rectangle
• E - Circle/Ellipse
• C - Connector
• W - Website card
• Y - YouTube card

Navigation

• Cmd/Ctrl + 0 - Fit view / Reset zoom
• Cmd/Ctrl + + - Zoom in
• Cmd/Ctrl + - - Zoom out
• Cmd/Ctrl + F - Open search panel
• Escape - Cancel / Deselect / Close

Editing

• Enter - Edit selected node
• Delete / Backspace - Delete selected nodes/edges
• Cmd/Ctrl + Z - Undo
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Z - Redo
• Cmd/Ctrl + C - Copy
• Cmd/Ctrl + V - Paste
• Cmd/Ctrl + D - Duplicate

Organization

• Cmd/Ctrl + G - Group selection into frame
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + G - Ungroup/unframe
• Cmd/Ctrl + A - Select all nodes
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + L - Align left
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + R - Align right
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + T - Align top
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + B - Align bottom

Application

• Cmd/Ctrl + N - New board
• Cmd/Ctrl + O - Open board
• Cmd/Ctrl + S - Save (auto-save is enabled)
• Cmd/Ctrl + , - Open preferences / AI Assistants

Tips and Best Practices

For Writers

• Use frames to organize chapters or story arcs
• Create character maps with sticky notes and connectors
• Leverage semantic search to find related plot points
• Use AI assistants to brainstorm character backgrounds

For Engineers

• Diagram system architecture with shapes and connectors
• Use frames to represent different services or components
• Add website cards for documentation references
• Leverage graph analysis to understand dependencies

For Students

• Create visual study guides and mind maps
• Connect concepts with arrows to show relationships
• Use semantic search to find related topics
• Ask AI assistants to help explain complex concepts

Troubleshooting

AI Assistant Not Connecting

1. Verify the AI assistant is installed and running
2. Check that ultramap is running
3. Try manual configuration if auto-config fails
4. Restart both applications after configuration

Performance Issues

• Consider splitting large boards (1000+ nodes) into multiple smaller boards
• Close unused boards to free up memory
• Restart ultramap periodically for long sessions

Content Not Appearing

• Press V to ensure you're in Select mode
• Press Cmd/Ctrl + 0 to fit all content in view
• Use the minimap (bottom-right) to locate content

System Requirements

• Operating System: macOS 10.13+, Windows 10+, or Linux (Ubuntu 18.04+)
• Memory: 4GB RAM minimum, 8GB recommended
• Storage: 500MB for application + board data
• Display: 1280x720 minimum resolution

Support

Need more help?

• Email: [email protected]
• MCP Documentation: modelcontextprotocol.io

Pricing and License

The current beta (v0.9.1) is completely free to use. The free beta will be available until the v1.0.0 release.

At v1.0.0 launch, ultramap will be available as a one-time purchase with a lifetime license that includes all future updates.

Thank you for choosing ultramap!